Operation: Merry Christmas
by nicnicd
Summary: When Bella, alone for Christmas, bumps into a shy and quiet coed outside of her dorm will her negative outlook on the Holidays change? My submission to the Twilight Gift Exchange on LJ.
1. Blue Christmas

**This was my entry for the Twilight Gift Exchange hosted on LiveJournal. Musical Voice AKA Haley DK requested a few prompts, and I jumbled them all up to suit my needs ;)**

**A million thanks to BittenBee for the last minute beta job. I adore you.**

**All characters within belong to SMeyer. The tomfoolery is all mine, though. **

* * *

Stumbling unsteadily on my feet, I weaved my way to my dorm, head swimming slightly from one shot too many. A few windows of those that were still lit were decorated with random strands of festively colored lights, and the blinking patterns made my head swim dizzily. There was a cold nip to the air, and I burrowed my face into my scarf, breathing into the fabric to warm myself quicker. My hands were twisted inside of the pockets of my heavy winter coat; one played distractedly with a long forgotten lighter from last year.

Too bad I didn't have any cigarettes to go along with that lighter.

My father hated my habit, and he had voiced his displeasure loudly about "bad influences" on my last visit home. I'd rolled my eyes and promised him that I could give it up whenever I wanted to, but even I didn't believe my unconvincing lie.

_Not that he can say anything about it this time, _I thought.

I actually _had_ kicked my habit, thanks in large part to a roommate who thought it was helpful to chop up the cigarettes I left laying around into fourths and placing them back in my pack. Tired of spending way too much of my limited income replacing them, and not wanting to go outside to smoke when the weather got too cold, I'd given up. After huffing up the stairs to class one day, I realized they were probably right. It wasn't very healthy.

Finding old lighters in my current mood made me want to start again though.

My father, Charlie, had finally taken time off from the job that he loved so much, and he and his new wife Sue had made the long trek to Minnesota to see my new step-brother for Christmas. Seth's first year of college had gone well, and he'd met a nice local girl there with whom he was 'madly in love.'

Insert eye-roll here.

Instead of going home to Charlie's empty house, I'd placed a call to my mom to tell her that I'd be spending the holiday break with her and her husband Phil. However, when she'd answered her phone sounding so excited, I couldn't help but ask her what she was doing.

With yet another 'fuck-it-all' bombshell, I'd learned she was at a travel agent's office. Phil had surprised her with her Christmas gift early: they were booking their travel itinerary for the trip to Morocco that would take them away from their lives in Florida for the entire last half of the month of December. My roommate, Alice, not wanting me to be alone for the holidays, had begged me to come home with her to Mississippi, but I hadn't wanted to intrude. This was the first time she was going to introduce her steady boyfriend, Jasper, to her extended family, and I didn't want to detract from something so important with my sob story.

And so, in a stunning turn of twists that led to this being the worst year ever, I was completely and utterly alone for the holidays.

My loneliness had taken me to the local campus hot-spot earlier this evening. It was dead, save for the regular patrons who had their favorite spots at the bar and the few students who also hadn't gone home for the Christmas break. After a few beers and a couple of shots, my head had begun to get fuzzy, and I'd figured it best that I stop. A lone girl walking home at night was dangerous, and I was now cursing myself for my stupidity.

I picked up my pace, trying to move and quickly and safely as possible for a naturally clumsy girl could who had drowned her sorrows with alcohol. My breath blew out in little wisps of fog around me, cloudy and opaque and reminding me that much more of the empty cigarette box in my back pocket.

Thankfully, I made it to my dorm without any major tumbles, but my luck could never hold out for too long.

Just as I made it unscathed to the top step sheathed in ice, my odd sense of accomplishment caused me to do an awkward fist pump. In my impaired state, I forgot to remove my hand from my pocket, though; with an un-ladylike squawk, I began to tip backward, flailing my hands and trying to regain my balance. As I lost my footing, I muttered, "Fuck…"

However, instead of landing on cold stone steps, my back connected with something warm and hard. My breath whooshed out as two hands came around my waist to hold me steady.

Instinct took over. My earlier musings about how unsafe it was for me to be walking home alone sprung to the forefront of my mind. My hands clawed at the stranger pair around my waist, and I kicked my legs.

"Let me go, or I swear on all that is holy I will scream bloody murder," I growled.

"Sorry," a quiet voice spoke behind me. I was set on my feet, and the hands were yanked away from me quickly. "You were going to fall."

I skidded up the steps, laying my hand on the door before I turned around. My harsh scolding caught in my throat when I saw my attacker…savior…whatever. I blinked past my alcohol induced brain fog.

A guy about my age stood there awkwardly, hands shoved deep into his pockets and eyes cast down. From my height advantage, I could still tell that he was tall, and his lanky frame was covered by black jeans and a heavy woolen pea coat. His messy hair flopped down over his eyes, hiding his full face from view. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked so uncomfortable that I immediately began to feel bad for the way I'd behaved.

"Hey, I'm sorry," I said, voice contrite and full of apology, "I was just… You scared me, is all. I didn't know anyone was behind me."

He glanced up, and in the dim light streaming out from the entry way I could finally see his features fully. His hair was just a bit too long and hung in haphazard disarray on his head and into his eyes. His jaw was smooth, free of hair and sharp. But it was his eyes that I focused on. Like broken shards of sea glass, green and sad, they met with my own.

"I didn't want you to hurt yourself," he explained softly. "I was a little behind you and I saw you start to fall…" he trailed off, his eyes once again focusing on his feet.

"Thank you," I said honestly. "I'm kind of a klutz."

The corners of his mouth twitched, and he looked back up to me. He moved cautiously, as if he was afraid to scare me again. _Of course he is, jackass… you just attacked him for saving you._

Gesturing to the door behind me, he took another step closer. "Do you room here, too?" I asked suspiciously.

"Um, yes… this is my dorm," he answered, smiling sheepishly at me, taking yet another step closer till he was on even ground with me. I looked up...and up. He was really tall.

"Oh! I'm sorry, here, let me." I opened the door, and held it for him, but he shook his head and reached above me to hold the door.

"After you," he said, voice still soft and shy.

Ducking under his arm, I walked into the common area and stopped at the stairs. Wanting to compensate for my behavior again, I held out my hand to him. "I'm Bella."

His face was already splotchy from the cold, but my attention was drawn to the tips of his ears. They became even became redder, if possible, flaming a deep maroon color. "Edward," he told me, holding his hand out to grasp mine and shake it.

"Well, Edward, it was nice to meet you. I really am sorry—"

"You don't have to apologize," he said a little more firmly this time. "I scared you, and for that I'm sorry."

I rolled my eyes, amused at his calm acceptance. "Still, I am. Thank you for catching me."

He blushed again, and my heart gave a funny little squeeze. "Good night Bella, it was nice to meet you."

I watched him walk away, hands once again stuffed into his pockets. "Good night," I called after him.

His head turned slightly over his shoulder, and he gave me a small, sheepish smile. One corner of his mouth lifted, resulting in an adorable little half-grin-smirk thing. Smiling to myself, I made my way up the stairs to my room.

Once inside, I shed the heavy layers of my scarf, gloves and coat quickly before changing into a pair of comfy pajama pants and an oversized tank top. Glancing down at the tank top in distaste, my lip curled into a sneer when I realized who the previous owner was. I really hadn't been paying attention earlier when I'd yanked it from a drawer.

The damn thing belonged to my ex, Tyler. I had pilfered one night to sleep in and never given it back. I hadn't wanted to part with it when I'd thrown all of his crap into a trash bag and tossed them out my window at him on Halloween. It was comfy and soft, thin from repeated washings and a touch on the see-through side, but as I was alone tonight I didn't mind.

'Finders, Keepers' and all that jazz…

I'd caught the dirty punk with his tongue shoved down some chick's throat at his fraternity's Halloween bash, and had promptly flown into what can only be described as a jilted lovers rage. I'd_…cooled them off_ by pouring my beer over their head, ruining homegirl's barely there angel costume.

Personally, I thought it was an improvement.

Alice had taken me back to the dorm and helped me root all of his stuff out. The trash bag had been her idea—she always was one for the melodramatics.

While I'd been tossing things into the bag, she'd called him and told him to meet us outside the dorm. Showing up with a truckload of frat brothers, he waited on the small steps leading up to our dorm for us to let him in. That is, until his stuff started to fall on his head.

His brothers had gotten a kick out of the show. Howling with laughter, they'd watched from the safety of the large truck while he fumbled for his things on the lawn. Alice and I had hung our head out the window, tossing insults along the way.

My relationship with Tyler had been terribly one-sided. While I had thought we were 'in love', he apparently had been banging chicks on the side. It had never taken much to keep me satisfied: date night once a week or a night spent at my dorm or his frat house in his room. Texts and phone calls. Him showing up randomly outside one of my classes… Any little gesture was appreciated and rewarded.

His false words of love and devotion were bullshit. The "I miss you" and "I need you" lines that he fed to were enough to keep me happy so he could go behind my back. And I'd eaten every one of them up.

I was naïve to believe him, and it had hurt when I'd learned the truth. Alice, my ever-positive roommate and best friend, had been my rock though. She'd let me cry for a day before going into her no-nonsense mode.

"Bella," she had said firmly, "You aren't the only one that this has ever happened to. Chin up, girl. Don't let him break you down."

She was right, of course. My fractured heart was easily mended. The cracks in my psyche weren't enough to hold me down for long, and Alice wouldn't have allowed them to, anyway.

She was a whirlwind of positivity. A true southern belle, her twangy accent was smooth and luxurious—all honeyed bourbon layered over delicate lace. She firmly believed that you should never go out of the dorm without being properly coiffed and dressed to the nines, even if we were only running to the grocery store. Her inner fashionista had wept to the Gods of Couture when we'd first met. My casual jeans, flannels, and a tee shirt ensemble had sent her into an all out tizzy of fashion nine-one-one.

Gradually, she'd worked her magic on me, getting me to trade my loose, ill-fitting clothes for more form fitting styles. I was still casual, but not so…_disheveled, _I guess. I would never be a walking runway model, that wasn't who I was, but I was at least dressing for the current decade now.

Taking a seat at my desk, I booted up my laptop, waiting not so patiently for it to load. Fighting my earlier buzz, I logged into my email account first, giggling at the subject line that stood out the most.

**I'm never coming home. Want to move to Morocco with me?**

Snickering to myself at her enthusiasm, I waited for the page to load. She had attached tons of pictures, and my heart twisted at seeing the happy, smiling faces that I missed so much. Pictures of Renee in brightly colored tunics and sandals, her and Phil standing in front of the Casablanca Cathedral, a large outdoor market filled with brightly colored goods. Sand dunes, and mosques, snow capped mountains and ancient Roman roads; she had labeled them all, including thoughts about each of the snapshots and where they were taken.

The last was a picture of my silly, unpredictable mother atop a camel, her hand clasped over her mouth—knowing Renee, she had undoubtedly squealed when the camel had risen from the ground—and excitement shining from her eyes. She looked so happy, so carefree…

I closed out of my email program quickly at that thought, my glum mood returning.

_Happy holidays…Yeah right._

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**What's your favorite Christmas song?**


	2. All I want For Christmas Is You

Startled by the noise, I woke the next morning to the abrupt sound of Christmas tunes. Slapping a hand out to quiet the blaring alarm, I sighed in relief when at the comforting silence. Not ready to wake up quite yet, I snuggled deeper into my warm covers and closed my eyes, mind drifting to thoughts of the quiet guy from the night before.

_Edward._

Still feeling bad about the way I'd accosted him when he was just trying to help, I ran through scenarios in my head and tried to come up with a way to apologize for my behavior. I'd never seen him around, though... So that might be hard to do. This led me to wondering why I _had_ never noticed him before. Alice always insisted on dragging me to the 'getting to know you' mixers that were hosted at the beginning of the year. I didn't spend much time in the common rooms, either, but I was down there every once in a while.

He had seemed really shy though, making me guess that he spent a lot of time alone. That was actually really sad and made my heart hurt a little for him. I didn't have a large group of friends, but I did have enough to get me out every once in a while. I hoped he did, too.

A glance over at my bedside table told me that my wandering thoughts had caused me to run late, and with a grumble I threw the covers back and dashed around my room grabbing my work clothes before darting into our en-suite bathroom.

After a too-quick shower, I threw on the obligatory black polo and flat front khakis that were my work uniform and rushed back into our room. Changing into a pair of black converse that I kept underneath my bed and grabbing the heavy winter jacket off of the hook, I locked the door behind me and flew down to my truck.

It was a true "Christmas Miracle' that I didn't land face down in the snow. Not bothering to let the engine warm up, I threw it into reverse and made my way to work. I passed the time by flipping through the stations in search of a song that wasn't about Frosty, Rudolph, or their friend the Drummer Boy, I settled on an oldies station, humming along to the songs that reminded me of childhood.

Since it was still fairly early, and traffic wasn't bad I made it to work easily, although my truck whined the whole way. Finally parking the protesting behemoth, I noted that there were no extra cars in the lot of the small electronics store where I worked.

This was a relief.

The mass of aggravated mothers and fathers, in search of the 'game of the season' had taken its toll on my good mood lately, leaving me anxious and ready for the holidays to be over. Just yesterday, I'd gotten caught in the middle of a screaming match between two testy soccer moms, each waving their purses dangerously at each other while arguing over who had laid hands on the last _Wii first_.

My manager, Marcus, had been the one to break it up when my insistent pleas for them to stop had gone unheeded, shooting an apologetic smile in my direction and offering up my break early to get me out of the fracas.

Marcus and his brothers, Cauis and Aro, ran the Volturi Electronics store, a hold out in the age of mass market chain stores that offered lower prices and little else in the way of customer service. The store had morphed from a hazy, smoke filled record store in the seventies to what it was now... a video game/music store that specialized in trade-ins, and clung fastidiously to its owner's hippie beliefs. Long haired, sandal wearing, patchouli scented and strange, the Volturi brothers were all about 'standing up to the man', whoever he may be.

Surprisingly, I liked the job. The brothers made me laugh; even Caius, the prickly, militant one. They were funny, in an old pot-head way. I liked to get into political talks with Aro, goading him into long winded views that I sometimes agreed with, but more often than not made me shake my head. Marcus was more subtle, always expounding the 'righteousness' of the free-love movement, and how great the relationships were back then. Cauis was the rule-keeper of the three, seemingly at odds with his cohorts at all times.

Climbing out of my truck, I slung my bag over my shoulder and navigated inside. Smiling at Eric as I passed him, and trying my best to stay out of Mike's sight and avoid another awkward conversation when he asked me out, again, I headed to the break room.

"Bella," Marcus said, startling me. I spun to face him, a hand clutched to my heart. "I'm sorry, I thought you saw me here," he said, smiling slightly. "I know I said you could do the music side today, but would you mind doing the games again? I need Eric to help with inventory."

"Sure that's fine," I sighed, resigned to my fate.

Somehow, I had figured that after yesterday, I could pretty much handle any holiday ruckus from angry shoppers. Though Marcus had promised otherwise, I assumed I would be back in the games section more often. Mike always wanted to work the music side, and Eric only cared about playing the games when we were slow. If we were busy, he was content to pretend to be doing something else, anything that didn't involve speaking to customers other than directing them.

Nodding at me once, Marcus went back out to the floor, leaving me to myself in the break room. I said a quick prayer to whoever was listening that today wouldn't be as bad as yesterday before heading to the game counter with a sigh.

The morning passed quickly with only one snag—an upset customer who had to be turned away when we didn't have the game in stock for which she was searching. After writing her rain check that I doubted she'd use, I walked around my area, straightening the picked through shelves.

A flash of green near my feet caught my eye, and I crouched down to peer closer at the box shoved under one of the shelves. Figuring that someone had ripped off a game and hid the empty box, I grabbed for it, wrestling the plastic object from under the heavy wooden frame. A loud giggle left me when I saw the unopened box, tags still in place, and the title.

The very same game that I had just written a rain check for was in my hands, evidently stashed for someone else by a stealthy customer. Laughing quietly to myself, I went back to the game counter and stashed it underneath, intent on making the next person to ask me about it very lucky.

I was cleaning the smudges off of the glass counter when a quiet voice caused my head to pop up. "Excuse me, Miss... Oh."

"Edward, hi," I greeted, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Bella," he mumbled, looking at me quickly then away. His ears did that cute blushing-around-the-edges thing again. "I'm Christmas shopping."

"Oh, really? Anybody special this year?" I asked, subtly wondering if he had a girlfriend.

"My cousin." He shrugged, his gaze still trained on the shelf to my left. I poked my head into his line of view, amused.

"And what are you getting your cousin?"

"Well," he said, finally casting his gaze back to me, "I'm looking for a game, but I doubt you have it. No one else does..." he muttered. His hands drummed nervously against his leg, instantly drawing the urge to comfort him out of me.

"Try me, I may just surprise you," I joked.

My teasing words caused his ears to redden again and his hand rose to ruffle through the back of his messy hair. "It's the latest Call of Duty game. Everywhere else I tried has been out, and I saw this place and thought that maybe you would have it. If you don't, that's fine—"

"I have it," I interrupted his rambling, which I found shockingly adorable. Reaching under the counter to grab the box I had stashed there, I smiled widely. "Last copy..."

The shocked expression on his face, eyes wide and mouth in a goofy "O" caused me to giggle. His gaze flashed to mine, a tiny, crooked smile slowly forming on his face. "You really have it? I've been all over this city looking for this. I was one step away from E-bay."

"Here, follow me. I'll get you sorted," I winked, stepping from behind my counter and leading him over to the registers. "You may want to keep that hidden; everyone has been looking for it. I found that copy by accident. Oh, hey Eric. Can you ring this guy up?"

Eric, obviously done with inventory, was now working the registers. He looked up from his magazine at my voice. His face twisted as the game was handed to him, an angry look taking over his normally passive face. "Where did you find this?" he choked out, glaring at me.

Taking a step back, I bumped into Edward. "Oops, sorry," I mumbled before turning back to Eric. "Under the shelf, why?"

"This is the last copy, we can't sell this."

Understanding dawned, and I took a step toward him, lowering my voice. "Yes, we can."

"No, we can't. I was going to buy that, and I won't sell it." He crossed his arms over his chest, taking a definitive stand.

"Excuse me," Edward's voice cut in, closer than I expected. Casting a glance over my shoulder, I realized that he had heard our conversation from the aggravated look on his face. He was now standing straighter with an attractive, established stance, a contrast to his previous shy disposition. "I'd like to buy this game. Do I need to call your manager up here?"

Staring Eric down, his voice quiet but firm, he seemed fairly confident, if not for the nervous shuffling of the game in his hands. I looked back over to Eric, smug. There was no way he would want any of the brothers called up here. With an idle thought, I wished for Caius. He'd blow a gasket that Eric had not only hidden stock, but was refusing to sell it, too. The resulting tongue lashing would be entertaining, at the very least.

"Fine," Eric seethed, snatching the game and scanning it. I waited until the bag was in Edward's hands, not trusting the sneaky little twerp.

When he had the bag and his card back, I walked him to the door. "Sorry about that, Eric's kind of a tool," I shrugged, pauisng at the door.

"You apologize for the oddest things," Edward joked, a real smile brightening his face. He ran his hand back through his tousled hair, pushing it off his face and stopping my next thought. My earlier strategy of apologizing to him for my rude behavior last night was forgotten, too.

When his gaze wasn't pointed at the ground and he smiled, really smiled, you could fully see his face. He was gorgeous. Straight nose, kissable lips, a jaw that appeared chiseled from stone and the softest, prettiest green eyes made for a _very_ attractive package. "Uh, sorry..."

Shaking his head at me, he looked down at his bag before looking back up to me. "Thank you, again. I'll see you around?"

Still a little dumbstruck, I nodded my head in response. With one last small smile, he was gone, and I stood there until a clap on my back caused me to jump.

"Bella, you have a line at your counter," Aro told me, nodding his head in that direction.

Hurrying back to my section, my thoughts were filled with Edward.

_Screw presents, I want him under my tree._

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**


	3. Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas

Finally, the end of my shift arrived and with a parting glare from Eric, who had taken the game section over with a surly attitude toward me, I made my way back to the break room to grab my things. I stopped for dinner on the way back to my dorm, getting stuck in a bit of holiday traffic.

While I waited in the long line of cars jam packed with shopping bags and cheery faces, I fired a quick text off to Alice, asking her how Jasper's visit with her family was going. When she didn't answer right away, I assumed that she was busy and tossed my phone onto the passenger side of the bench seat.

As soon as traffic started to move again, I maneuvered toward the small coffee shop and parked my truck. Once inside the cozy, dimly lit café, I grabbed my order from the counter and headed quickly to the corner to snag one of the comfy armchairs and read for a bit. I didn't want to go home to my lonely dorm just yet.

Soft, acoustic music floated out of the hidden wall speakers, and muted conversations provided a peaceful background noise while reminding me that I wasn't technically alone at the moment. Twirling my finger in my hair absentmindedly, I sipped my coffee and became lost in my book. My sandwich lay forgotten on the table next to me as I lost myself in turn of the century London.

"Do you mind if I…"

"Oh!" Halfway to my mouth, my hand jerked at the intrusion into my little bubble, sending lukewarm coffee all over my book and my shirt. "Ah, shit," I moaned, twisting around to grab at the stack of napkins near my tray. I turned my book upside down, letting it drip on the table in front of me and began dabbing at my shirt.

Looking up, I saw Edward once again, holding his tray of food and drink. His face was terribly funny—his mouth hung agape and his eyes kept darting in between my soaked shirt and my book, as if he couldn't believe my aptitude for klutzy behavior.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think you—"

"Seriously, don't worry about it. At least the coffee wasn't hot…This time." I'd had my fair share of too-hot coffee making its way down my person, so I didn't mind it as much when I spilled the cold stuff. I picked my book up and began the process of siphoning coffee and hopefully salvaging the rest of the pages.

"I saw you over here and just… wanted to say thanks," he muttered. I looked up in time to see his eyes fall to the floor in front of him, and I instantly wanted to ease some of his shyness.

"For what?" My voice took on a quieter, and hopefully more approachable, tone.

"The game, earlier… at your work. I've been looking all over for it, and was running out of hope. You see, my cousin has been talking about it for the last month, and I really wanted to get him something that…" he trailed off, blushing. I think it had been the most words I'd heard him string together in our limited interactions, and I thought it was kind of sweet the way he rambled. "Did you get any more grief from your coworker?"

"Oh, Eric? Pfft," I flicked my wrist, waving off his concern. "Please. He shot me dirty looks all day and grumbled under his breath about how he should have hidden it better," I told him, rolling my eyes. "He's harmless, just a bit of a sore loser."

"Oh, okay," he said, once again looking down at his shuffling feet. He looked so awkward…

"Do you wanna sit?" I motioned to the chair next to me. "I don't think I'll be able to read anymore tonight, so I could use the company."

"I'm really sorry about your book. If you'll let me—"

"Nope, none of that," I hushed him, wanting the apology portion of our evening over with; and in general, wiped from our interactions. It was getting ridiculous at this point, I mused. "It'll dry. Trust me; I've ruined more than enough books by spilling things on them."

He smiled at me timidly, looking more hopeful with one corner of his mouth twitching and I smiled back widely, happy to have someone to pass the time with tonight. He sat his drink and food down next to mine on the shared end table and then made himself comfortable in the chair.

"So," I began, "what's your major?" _Oh, god… How lame am I? Seriously Bella, that's all you got?_

"I'm a music theory and composition major," he said, glancing down at his hands. I noticed his fingers then, long and thin and very graceful.

I asked him another question to keep him talking. His voice, although soft, had a really nice richness to it and I wanted to hear more of it. "Wow, that's cool. So, I'm guessing you play instruments…?" _Shit, I meant to ask which ones… Could I sound any more idiotic?_

"Yeah," he affirmed my question. "Mostly piano, but I can play a little guitar, too. I'm not as good at that as I am piano, though," he grinned.

"That's awesome," I enthused, smiling. "My mom signed me up for piano lessons when I was eight, but I sucked." He laughed quietly, more of a snicker and I rolled my eyes and continued. "No, really. It was dreadful. My teacher was this stuffy old lady and she was so testy. I hated it."

"Sounds like you needed a better teacher," he said. "My mom taught me how."

His voice had changed, turning sad and shy again. I couldn't have that; I was enjoying the time spent with him too much. "Well, your major is way cooler than mine," I said, changing the subject.

"What's yours?"

"English," I nodded to my (probably) ruined book. "See, way more boring."

"You like to read?"

The question wasn't rude or surprised, it sounded like more of a statement. "Yep, I read all the time. Classics, new stuff, romance, mysteries… anything really. I'm hoping to be able to work at a publishing house or something with my degree. You know, get the skinny on inside happenings, read the next Great American Novel before everyone else... Life's goal, right there," I winked.

That adorable reddening of his ears came back, and I went back over my words, coming up short on what had caused that reaction.

It was cute, though.

"What about you, what do you wanna be when you grow up?" I prodded.

"I'd like to compose, ideally. Either that or I'll just be a music teacher," he shrugged.

"I think you'd be a good teacher," I told him honestly. "You can't be any worse than mine, at least."

We spent the rest of the night in our cozy little corner, talking and getting to know each other a little bit. I learned that he too was staying at school over the holiday break. When I asked him why, he was elusive in his answers. Knowing a thing or two about family drama, I left it alone.

Edward was, I learned, shy and quiet, but extremely polite and sweet. His ears reddened anytime the questioning took us toward personal things or to what seemed to showcase his extreme awkwardness. I felt bad for embarrassing him, but he had me so intrigued.

His smiles, though rare, were little shining moments like sunrays and had me yearning for more.

I'd eventually allowed him to replace my coffee after he offered a bazillion times. We sat talking and guzzling highly caffeinated, overpriced but delicious drinks until the café began to clear out and the workers started throwing us dirty looks while they straightened up around us.

We gathered our things and walked to our vehicles, which coincidentally were parked next to each other. His shiny, silver car was much nicer than my gigantic, hulking truck. He didn't seem overtly flashy, so that was a shocker.

"Goodness, what's up with the car, Edward?"

"It was a gift from my dad when I graduated high school," he said, eyes darkening once more and voice reverting to shyness.

"Oh, here I thought you were just a ladies man."

At my teasing, his eyes lit up, that heartbreakingly sad expression turning into something light and happy. And just like that, I had a new goal. I wanted to make sure he has a good Christmas; I wanted to see him smile more.

"I'll see ya around the dorm?" I asked as he moved to his door.

"Yes, I'm sure of it," he answered, a full smile making its way to his face.

Struck once again by how fucking cute he was, I paused a second too long while he got into his car. When he shot me a questioning glance, I shook out of my stupor and opened my truck. I watched him pull away, plotting on the way to achieve my goal.

_Just call me Santa's little helper._

* * *

**Thank you for reading! **


	4. We’re a Couple of Misfits

Two days.

It had been two whole days of watching and waiting to catch a glimpse of Edward. Which left me with, today included, only three days until Christmas to accomplish my goal. I'd stalked the common areas, relentless and tacky in the way I lounged across the ratty sofas and guzzled crappy free coffee. My laptop battery had died on me the first day. I'd sat there for over two hours acting like I was busy, when I was really just scoping the stairs.

Doubt had begun to set in, leaving me to wonder if I was the only one interested or if he was avoiding me.

Truthfully, I really liked him. Not in that 'omigosh, head over heels, in love' way, but I thought he was nice and funny, and I wanted to get to know him better. Tyler and I had never had this kind of stimulating conversation. It had been a while since I'd been interested in anyone, and with all my extra free time lately I was decidedly anxious to see him again. It was nice to have someone to talk to the other night at the coffee shop, and I wouldn't mind hanging out again.

With a sigh I stood, leaving the couch and heading for the stairs to my floor. I made it to my room without any interference, the dorm really was deserted. I got ready for work and had just slipped my jacket on when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Bella, honey. I'm glad I caught you," my mother's breezy voice floated over the speaker. "What are you doing?"

"Hi mom," I greeted her. "I'm actually getting ready for work, but I can talk on my way over. What time is it there?"

"It's a little past ten o' clock at night."

I glanced at my clock; it was two in the afternoon here.

"Oh, that's cool," I replied vaguely as I searched for my keys. "So, how is it over there?" I switched the phone to my other ear and cradled it between my ear and shoulder as I found my keys and locked the door behind me.

Listening to her excited stories of camels, desert sand, open air markets and beautiful mosques made me feel homesick for her couch in Florida. She always played Christmas carols as she prepared the Christmas meal, the sounds bright and homey to my ears. She couldn't cook to save her life, but she tried, and just hearing her voice made me feel even more sentimental. More often than not I had to help her finish preparing the meal, something Phil and I joked about every year.

All too soon, I arrived at work and had to interrupt her story about a guided tour through Casablanca. "Mom, I've gotta go, I'm at work now."

Did she notice how down I sounded?

"Alright baby, I'll call you tomorrow, do you have to work then?"

"Yep," I answered, already making my way to the store. "I have to work every day until Christmas."

"Oh," she whispered. Yes, she had definitely caught the sad tone of my voice. "Well, I'll call you tomorrow night, I'll set an alarm."

I knew what she was doing. She'd figured me out, and felt bad now. If I didn't throw her off, she'd make Phil bring her home and show up at my dorm on Christmas morning in antlers ears and a tacky sweater.

"Mom," I groaned, "I'm fine, I promise. I have friends here, too. Enjoy your vacation, okay? And tell Phil I miss him and give him a hug for me."

"Bella," she began, sounding exasperated.

I cut her off. We'd had this talk too often lately. "Mom, I gotta go, I'm inside now. Have fun. I love you."

"I love you too baby. I'll talk to you later."

Sniffling, I closed the phone and tossed it into my bag. I walked with my head down to the break room, not making eye contact with anyone. Once inside, I wiped at my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

It truly sucked that I was alone for Christmas, and I wanted to call Alice. She always made me feel better. I thought back to our last conversation.

_"You know that you can still come with us," Alice whispered in my ear as she pulled me in for one of her famous, bone-crushing hugs. How someone so small could effectively cut off my air supply was beyond me. "There is plenty of room…"_

_"I'll be fine," I assured her. "I'm twenty-one Alice, not twelve. I can take care of myself."_

_"That's true, but you shouldn't be alone on Christmas," she huffed, her aggravation at my family slipping through her normally cheery demeanor. She took a deep breath, squaring her small shoulders, and I could tell she was about to slip into her 'I won't take no' speech, again._

_"You ready to go, sweetheart?" Jasper chose that moment to poke his head into our dorm, thankfully delaying the one-hundredth time of her pleading, puppy-dog-pouting tirade._

_With one desperate look from me he thankfully bustled her out the door with grandiose fantasies of stopping at a mall if they had enough time._

Making up my mind to call her tonight and see how things were going, and if her family liked Jasper, I pulled myself from my doldrums and took off my coat. Once my things were safely put away and I had myself more composed, I went in search of Aro to find my assignment for the day.

"Bella," he greeted me with bloodshot eyes. _Oh, joy… Here we go._ Would it be political talk, or a rant on why legalizing pot was a good deal for the economy?

"Hey Aro, where am I today?" I asked, not wanting to let him go off on a long-winded tangent about what-ever-the-fuck interested him today.

"Registers," he smiled dopily, probably thinking it would make up for the past few days. Or maybe he was thinking about cheetos... You never really knew with him.

Well, the registers were better than nothing.

The day was busy and I ended up skipping my lunch break when Eric didn't show up. He was probably still sulking over the game thing, big baby.

Mike tried inviting me out, but I begged off with excuses of a massive paper that I had to write and took a rain check… _yeah right._

I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and grabbed a salad from the deli for dinner and a bottle of coke. And liquor—it was turning into one of those days. The lady at the checkout gave me a hard time about my I.D., holding my license up and inspecting my face carefully.

"This says you live in Phoenix," she said, sounding haughty. "It's a long way from Arizona."

"I'm a student at the university," I sighed. "My dad lives in Washington, and I go to school here." I hated having to explain myself to this lady; all I wanted was a damn Jack n' Coke, not the fifth degree. She could easily just swipe the I.D. to confirm.

"Hmmph," she made a strangled noise, but served me anyway.

After calling "Merry Christmas" over my shoulder in a sing-song voice, admittedly it was more flippant than kind, I headed back to campus.

Making my way across the lobby of my dorm, I wondered what Edward was doing tonight. I made a snap decision to look him up in the directory and find out for myself. It was time to put my plan into action.

Reaching my room in record time, and only tripping over my own feet once, I unlocked the door and set my dinner in the fridge. I booted up my laptop and hit U dub's directory, narrowing my search down to any instance of the name Edward.

It wasn't a very popular name.

I found ten.

_Edward Cullen,_ however, was a music student and with shaking hands I copied the number that was listed next to his name down onto a piece of paper. I paced the room, cell phone in hand as I tried to work up the nerve to call him, if it was him…

What would I say if it was him? I mean, I'd just cyber-stalked him for fucks sake. I literally was crazy.

What if he hadn't given me his number for a reason? I knew I forgot to ask, but he never offered it either. That had to mean something, right?

_He's shy,_my inner-normal-person told me, trying to calm the other half down. _And you didn't ask._

I weighed the options carefully. I could call, confessing that I found him in the directory (it was there for a reason, after all) and tell him that I wanted to see what he was up to. He could either A: freak out and tell me to leave him alone, or B: be happily surprised that I had thought of him and talk to me.

Or there was option C: he could call the cops on me for stalking.

I'm sure my dad would just _love_that. The cop's daughter, arrested for internet crimes and mild harassment.

Allowing the normal side to win over, I decided that option B was what I was hoping for, and let the crazy talk fall to the wayside. With a calming breath, I finally flopped down onto my bed and dialed the number. Holding the phone to my ear, I waited as it began to ring.

On the third ring, a quiet voice answered, "hello?"

_It's him, it's him! Okay, calm down, you don't want him to think you're crazy… Even though you are._

"Hello?" he repeated again, and I inwardly cursed.

"Hi, um, Edward? Music major Edward? You wear glasses and have red hair?" I questioned, finally remembering that I had to actually speak into the phone.

"Um, yes…" he answered. He cleared his throat, and then spoke again. "Who is this?"

"It's Bella. We had coffee the other night…"

Sweet Jesus, this was awkward.

_Shoot me now, please._

"Oh! Hi, Bella," he sounded caught off guard. He was totally going to turn me over to campus security. Any minute now…

"I'm sorry to just call out of the blue, but I hadn't seen you around, and I was wondering if you were busy? If you are, I totally understand, and it's no big deal, but I was—"

"I'm not busy," he cut me off. "I'm actually just sitting around watching a movie."

"What movie?" I blurted, relieved that he didn't sound terrified of the crazy stalker girl.

"The new Transformers movie," he mumbled, and I imagined that his ears were probably red right about now. Comic book movies… that was kind of cute, in a geeky way.

"Oh, I wanted to see that, but I didn't get around to it," I said. I was in Forks for the summer break when it came out, and the nearest movie theater was an hour away. Needless to say, I didn't go. "How is it?"

"It's good," his voice took on an enthusiastic tone, and I smiled. "Lots of action and Optimus Prime is pretty cool."

"I'll have to rent it sometime."

"Are you busy now?" he asked tentatively. He sounded so shy… It made my toes curl pleasantly.

"Nope, I just got home from work."

"Do you… I mean, if you aren't doing anything," he paused, and I listened hard to the silence from his end. _Please ask, please…_"You could come over here and watch it with me, if you want." It came out in a quiet, continuous stream of words.

Unable to stop myself, I did a fist pump while relaxed on my bed and ended up knocking my hand into the wall. "Ow," I whined, and then slapped a hand over my mouth. Oops…

"Bella, are you okay?"

"Um, yeah," I muttered, shaking my hand to lessen the sting. "I just knocked my hand, um… against my wall. Spider. Yeah. There was a spider and they freak me out."

"Oh, okay," he didn't sound convinced. "Look, if you're busy, you don't have to come ov—"

"I'm not busy," I assured him, not wanting him to finish that line of thought. "I'd love to come over, give me a little bit first? I need to eat and get out of my work clothes. You don't mind watching the movie over, do you?"

"I don't mind."

"Great, I'll be over in half an hour. Oh, hey, what's your room number? The directory doesn't list it." I really hoped he wouldn't put too much thought into that. I was completely psyched over the fact that I was going to get to see him, and totally just outed myself…

Again, oops.

"I'm in room three-twenty-two."

"Okay, got it," I wrote the room number down next to his pilfered phone number on my paper.

I was totally gonna enter that in my phone later.

We hung up, and I dashed about my room, grabbing my things for the shower. After the quickest shower imaginable, complete with one nick from shaving—it never hurt to be prepared—and a quick blow out of my hair, I tore through Alice and I's shared closet.

_What to wear, what to wear. I need Alice…_

She hadn't answered earlier, but I was going to try again. I knew she wouldn't want to miss offering her advice, so I dialed the number and waited impatiently for her to answer.

"Hi sweet cheeks, what's shaking?"

"I need your help, fast."

"What's the matter?" she asked, probably worried form the breathless tone to my voice.

"Okay, so… I may have a quasi-date tonight, I'm not exactly sure. What do I wear?"

"A date?" she all but screamed. Over-excitable munchkin. "With who?"

"Just a guy I met the other day. He lives in our dorm. I promise to give you the scoop later, but I need to get dressed right now, so tell me what to do," I begged.

"I'm going to hold you to that," she warned playfully. "Okay, first, what are you doing?"

"We're planning to watch a movie in his room," I told her. "So, casual but nice, okay?"

"Okay, first wear the jeans you bought last month. The faded ones with the rip in the pocket."

"Got 'em," I held up the jeans in triumph, and then realized how dorky I was behaving.

"Alright, now," I could picture her tapping her chin, like she always did when in front of the closet. She probably had ours memorized. Freak. "Wear your nice blue shirt. The one with the V-neck. It's pretty and it does fabulous things for your skin."

I found the sweater sandwiched in between a few of her dresses. Typical.

"Got it. Shoes?"

"I'd say heels, but you'd only bust your ass," she snarked, "so go with flats. But please, no chucks. Those things are hideous."

Rolling my eyes at her dig, I thanked her and told her I'd call her tomorrow, hanging up. Once dressed, I took a moment to catch my breath and grabbed my dinner out. I halfheartedly picked at my salad, but my stomach was too nervous to really eat anything. I put the rest away.

Sneaking a peek at the liquor in our little fridge, I decided against it, glad that tonight had turned out better than I'd originally thought.

_Operation: Merry Christmas has begun._

* * *

**Thank you for reading! **


	5. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

I made it to Edward's room and took a deep breath before raising my hand to knock. He answered really fast, and I wondered if he was eagerly waiting on me.

_God, I'm so full of shit._

"Hey," he greeted me, holding his door open to allow me in.

"Hi. Sorry I took awhile, my roommate was on the phone, and I needed to talk to her," I told him, omitting the fact that I had called her for clothing advice. Didn't want to seem like a spaz…

"It's no problem. Are you thirsty?"

"Yeah, actually. Whatcha got?"

"I have…" he opened his little fridge under his desk. "Water, or Coke… milk… orange juice."

"I'll have a water," I decided.

He handed me a bottle and snagged an orange juice for himself before straightening up. "Um, there really aren't a lot of places to sit," he looked around his room.

I took in the space, too. "Dude, lucky. You have a single?"

"Yeah, I don't know how I managed to swing that one. It's nice, though. No roommate to interrupt when I need quiet study time, or to complain when I work on my compositions." There was a keyboard pushed against the wall, and next to it sat an acoustic guitar.

I swooned.

Seriously. Scarlett O' Hara worthy swoon? Yep. I did it.

With minimal seating options available, I grabbed a not-so-comfy spot on the floor and leaned against his bed. He sat down across from me, against the wall, and leaned over to grab the remote. I pouted internally.

Once the movie started, I quickly became lost in the action on the screen. The car-robot-things were cool as all, and the cheesy dialogue had me in stitches about halfway through. Every once in a while, I'd ask a question about something I didn't quite understand, and Edward was a wealth of knowledge on all things Transformers.

It was really freaking adorable the way he described the mechanics of these robots in all polite seriousness.

My ass had begun to go numb from sitting on the hard floor though, so I caught his attention and asked if he minded if I used one of his pillows.

"No, go ahead," he said, and I noticed that his ears had gone red again.

_Aww._

Smiling to myself, I kicked up _Operation: Merry Christmas_ and grabbed all the pillows off of the bed, throwing them onto the floor in between us. I made a comfy spot and lay down diagonally, letting my upper body rest on the fluffy fabric. And I left him some space, too.

With a smile in his direction, I turned my attention back to the movie, keeping him in my peripherals, and waited.

It took him about ten minutes before he moved his bottle of juice in front of the floor pallet and copied my position on the pillows. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his hands twisting nervously, fingers moving in an odd pattern.

"What's wrong?" I asked, totally forgetting to filter my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Your hands," I nodded down at them. "What are you doing?"

"It's a habit," he said, staring down at his now still hands. "There's always music in my head, and my fingers are always trying to play…"

"Oh, gotcha," I smiled at him and turned my eyes back to the screen. I thought his habit was extremely endearing. And very intriguing. I imagined him drumming those long, slender fingers over my hips, moving down…

In the still room, his nearness caused my thoughts to scatter and turn naughty. His shoulder was only a hairsbreadth away from mine, and I could feel the heat of his body whisper across the exposed skin of my arm. The lamp on his desk cast a muted, dim light around the small space, throwing parts into shadows. His fingers had stilled only momentarily before picking up the spastic drumming again.

With a silent wish, I placed my hand near his before scooting it underneath and clasping his hand in mine. I chanced a peek out of the corner of my eye and saw that he was staring at our interlocked fingers with a smile.

_Insert happy squeal here._

I really tried to pay attention to the movie after that, but if asked I wouldn't have been able to relay it to anyone. My mind was concentrating on the feel of his skin against mine and the warm, tingly buzz that flowed throughout my frame at the contact. My heart beat unevenly, excited and giddy.

Listening to the deep, even breaths next to my ear lulled me into a state of utter fucking bliss, and I jumped when his voice whispered across to me, breaking my trance.

"Bella, the movie is over," he said, shaking my hand a bit to get my attention.

"Oh," I breathed. "Oh! Sorry, I zoned out there for a minute." It was my turn to blush now, and I felt the heat of embarrassment flood my cheeks.

"Did you not like the movie?" he turned his head to me, that shy look back on his face.

"No, I did," I assured him, feeling kind of bad about flaking out. "I was just thinking about something."

"What were you thinking about?"

It didn't escape my notice that his eyes were narrowed in on my lips, so I went for it. "This."

Leaning up on my elbows, I touched my lips to his, letting my eyes flutter closed. But, not before I saw his widen.

Warm, shocked lips met mine, and the pure joy of kissing him flooded my body, making me lightheaded and dizzy. His lips, however, remained still against mine for too long to be a positive sign. Happy hopes dashed, I groaned and began to move away, muttering apologies the entire time.

"I'm sorry, that was too forward of me. Hell, you probably don't even want to kiss m—"

His body twisted lightening fast to my side, hands moving to gently cup my head and pulling me back toward him. This time, I was in shock as warm, full lips moved with the lightest pressure against mine, long, elegant fingers threading into my hair as his thumbs brushed across the apples of my cheeks.

Pulling my top lip in between his, he leaned further into me and murmured against my mouth, "Shh."

_Okay then. Shutting up now._

Not breaking the kiss, I moved to my side as well, propping my weight up with one elbow and moving the other arm around his shoulders to play with the soft curls at the nape of his neck. My heart pounded uncontrollably against my chest, sounding loud to my ears. Could he hear it, too?

_God, I hope not._

Tentatively, aware that he was shy and I needed to go slow with him, I opened my mouth and darted my tongue out, sweeping across his lips twice. With a strangled sound, he opened his mouth too. At the first touch of his tongue to mine I gripped his neck and scooted myself closer, all previous thoughts of slow flying out of my head.

One of his hands moved from my hair, sliding down my neck and leaving burning trails down the skin of my arm. It slipped around my back until it rested low on my hip and he pulled me closer to him. One leg slipped between my knees and hooked around the back of my calf while the hand at my waist gripped the fabric of my shirt tightly. We tangled together, leaning back further into the pillows.

Emboldened by his obvious, enthusiastic approval, I rolled us until I half rested on his chest, breathing rather heavy but not really caring at the moment. His lips were so soft under mine, warm and nice and just a tiny bit tangy from his earlier orange juice.

I smiled at the thought, my lips pulling up at the edges before I moved my hands from underneath his neck to his chest. He was so cute… And he smelled so good. One hand played with the pocket of his button down shirt while the other slipped around his torso to his side and lightly stroked the fabric covered skin there.

Desperately, I wanted to take this further, but I really didn't want to freak him out. Instead, I pulled my head back slightly, easing the sting of stopping by brushing two small kisses against the corner of his mouth. I collapsed against him, burrowing my head underneath his chin and peppering soft, sweet kisses against his neck while I tried to regulate my breathing.

"Sorry," I muttered against his neck. "Got a little carried away there."

"I swear," he laughed, "you really do apologize for the oddest things."

My laughter bubbled up, happy and carefree and I shook against him. "Yeah, it's a habit. Can't help it." I moved up to look at him, and was thrilled to see that his eyes were closed and a happy smile tugged his lips up.

Lazily, smile still in place, he opened his eyes to meet mine. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," I giggled back.

_Dear Santa, I've been a good girl (mostly) this year… Got a sec for my wish list?_

* * *

**Thanks for reading! **


	6. Frosty the Snowman

My alarm clock pulled me from the happiest dream of a picnic with Edward in a wide open field on a sunny day. Wishful thinking on my partespecially with the cold snow that was visible outside of my window. I slapped at the loud beeping annoyance, and snuggled back under my toasty warm blankets, thinking.

After our impromptu make out session last night (which included a few more rounds after the first) Edward had walked me back to my room, holding my hand the entire way. It _may have_taken us awhile to say goodnight at my door…

Which was probably the reason I'd had such sunshiny, happy dreams.

Finally allowing myself a girly moment I squealed loudly and drummed my feet against my bed, _happy._And maybe a teensy, tiny bit 'in like'.

Possibly.

Definitely.

For sure.

I glanced over at the clock, groaning when I realized my giddiness had lasted a bit too long, and I now only had fifteen minutes to shower, change and make it to work. _Damnit._ I searched for my phone, finally locating it under my pillow.

_Oh, yeah…_

I also may have made Edward promise to call me when he got back to his room. And my phone was wedged underneath my pillow because that's where I finally placed it at three-thirty in the morning when we hung up. Evidently, I am a dork.

Who knew?

Finding the number to work, I pressed send and waited for someone to pick up as I gathered my things for the shower and my clothes for work. It would have to be a wet head day, blow drying would take too much time.

_I really hope I don't get sick._

Sickness would interfere with my new found kissing partner, and that would suck.

"Volturi Electronics, what can I do for you?"

"Hey Marcus," I greeted him, glad it wasn't Caius who answered. "It's Bella. I'm really sorry, but I overslept and I'm running behind, so I'm going to be a few minutes late. I didn't want you guys to think I wasn't coming in though."

"Actually, Bella," he started, sounding sheepish "you can take the day off. I overscheduled today, and we were going to send Eric home, but now he can stay and you can enjoy a day off."

Oh, Eric was gonna be pissed.

_Serves him right…_

"Oh, are you sure?" I asked, trying to control my happiness and still seem like a conscientious worker. "I can come in, it's really no problem. I'd hate to put Eric out…"

"Really, he doesn't even know about my mistake. Enjoy your day, dear."

"Thanks Marcus, I will. I have a bunch of stuff to catch up on." Like kissing Edward some more… and eating… and then holding Edward's hand… and sleeping… maybe some more kissing…

_Aww hell._ I shook my head at myself.

Dork.

As soon as I hung up, I plugged my phone up to the charger and crawled back into bed. I reached over to set the alarm for two hours later, and burrowed back under my still warm covers, falling back to sleep.

When my alarm went back off again, I lingered in bed, debating on my plan of action for the day. I knew I'd need to call Alice. She had to be up to her eyeballs in family things, but there was no way that she wasn't dying to get the scoop on my date/hanging out/whatever-the-fuck last night. She lived for that shit.

Wanting to get it over sooner rather than later, I grabbed my phone and dialed her number. It took only one ring for her to answer.

"Okay, spill. Who is he, where did you meet him, is he cute, and what happened?"

"I knew you were waiting on me," I laughed. "Okay, here we go. His name is Edward, and he's a music major who happens to live in our dorm. I met him the night you left after coming home from around of 'poor me' drinking at Joe's. He saved me from busting my ass, but I kind yelled at him for it."

"You did not. Why?"

"I was nervous walking home alone and didn't see him behind me. When he caught me from slipping, I freaked."

"Understandable. Continue."

"So, I think he's really cute. He's sort of shy, and wears glasses and has messy hair. But his eyes are so pretty, and you should see the jaw, Alice. Seriously."

"Aww, he sounds cute! And you're kind of shy, too so that works out."

"Yep. So, anyway, I've ran into him a few times since then, and I got a little… I don't know, bold? Desperate… whatever, last night and looked him up in the directory," I stuttered, and she laughed at me. "Hey, be supportive, I didn't make fun of you when you took history classes to meet the hot T.A. So, I called him—"

"Did you? Oh my god, you shameless hussy," she teased.

"You're supposed to be shutting up and listening," I scolded. "So, I called him, and he invited me to come watch a movie with him. Eventually the robots on the screen got boring and I just… kissed him."

"Bella, I'm so proud of you," she enthused. "So… Is he a good kisser?"

"Oh, I'm not the type to kiss and tell," I teased. "After all, I'm _shy._"

"Spill, Swan."

Her no-nonsense attitude was endearing, most of the time. And I loved how girl-talk between us was so easy and lighthearted. I wasted no time in the sharing of details. By the time I was through recounting every minor detail of the previous night, Alice was just as much of a swoony mess as I was.

"So, do you have plans to see him again?"

"Yeah, actually I was running late to work this morning and when I called to let them know, they let me have the day off. Some snafu with scheduling or something, so I was thinking of calling him later."

"Do it, right now," she ordered, bossy as always. "I'm hanging up. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Alice. Merry Christmas."

I took my time calling him, relaxing into a longer shower that I'd nearly missed out on, and meticulously blew out my hair afterward. I searched through Alice's never-ending supply of makeup also, wanting to look nice just in case. I hemmed and hawed over my clothes, finally settling on a nice pair of dark jeans and a pretty cream colored sweater. As a last thought, I grabbed a pair of nice brown boots from Alice's closet, as we were close in size.

Satisfied that I looked almost pretty, I grabbed my phone from the charger and found Edward's name.

"Hello," he answered, and I thought I detected a hint of a smile in his tone.

"Hey Edward, it's Bella."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just seeing what you were doing? I ended up getting lucky and got a day off from work. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"What would you like to do?" Was it just me, or did I hear a smile?

"I actually don't know," I replied, possibilities running through my mind. "I'm open to suggestions though."

"How about I meet you at your dorm, and we can go from there?"

"Sure, that sounds great. How long do you need to get ready?"

"How does a half hour sound?"

Thinking fast, I decided that I definitely needed to feed the butterfly army in my stomach, so I quickly agreed. We hung up not too soon after with our loose plans in place and would see where the day took us.

After a quick bowl of cereal, I opened my email and scanned the latest pictures from my mom. She had included snapshots of the tour around Casablanca that she had gushed over yesterday, and they were beautiful. She and Phil looked so happy in them, making me smile.

My step brother Seth emailed me also, hoping that I was a having a good Christmas even though we weren't together. He went over Sue and Charlie's reaction to his girlfriend, and passed along his wish that I would get to meet her soon. Replying back with my own hopes that his holiday was nice, I agreed that I would need to scope her out, and then closed up my laptop.

With a start, I realized that over the past few days my bitterness about being alone on Christmas had dissipated, leaving me strangely buoyant and happy. If I was being honest, I knew that was because it gave me a chance to bump into Edward, which was silly. We'd only just met.

But, I liked him. That thought caused my butterflies to start back up and a dopey smile spread over my face.

A knock on the door sent me scurrying for my coat and scarf, and with full hands I answered the door to greet the object of my obsession.

"Hey," I smiled, noting that his hair was less messy than normal. _Huh, guess he wanted to look nice, too._

"Ready?" he held out his hand, which I readily latched on to.

Once my door was locked behind me and the key was slipped safely into the inside pocket of my winter coat, we made our way down the stairs and outside the dorm.

"Where to?" I queried, trying to think up something.

"How about we walk until we figure it out?" he suggested.

Trudging through the snow across campus in an easy silence, I took in the beautiful sights of campus in winter, breathing in the crisp, sunny air. A thick blanket of the pearlescent white clung to every surface, coating the trees in fantastical patterns that shimmered in the light.

"I used to hate the snow," I confessed, breaking the silence. "It took me forever to get used to it when I moved here. "

"Where did you live before?"

"Phoenix. I lived with my mom up until my junior year of high school when I moved to Washington to live with my dad. When it was time for college, the weather around here had already grown on me, so I stuck around," I shrugged. "My mom lives in Florida now though. It's always a shock when I go to visit her. I about drown in the humidity."

"I'm from Chicago, so I'm used to cold winters," he said. Once again I noted the reluctance in his tone. "I haven't really been back there in a while though."

"Really? Why's that?" His grip on my hand tightened slightly, and I glanced up to see a grimace pass across his face. I sensed that whatever I had just said bothered him, and I didn't want to ruin the easy time we were having. "I'm sorry; we don't have to talk about this."

"No, it's alright," he sighed. "My dad died my freshman year of college, and I don't really get along with my mom's new husband. He's… I don't know. He just isn't my dad."

"Oh," I gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

How awful. Here I was upset over the fact that my family was in different parts of the country, sulking like a spoiled brat and he was dealing with something much worse. No wonder he didn't want to talk about himself much. I wouldn't want to, either.

"It's okay, Bella. I have family down here, so it's not like I'm completely cut off from home-type stuff. My uncle and Aunt live in Seattle, and my cousin Emmett and I are close. He's the one I bought the game for."

"That's cool. How old is he?"

"He's a senior in high school. He's going to come to school here next year. I'm really happy about that."

"I bet," I smiled at him, happy that he would have someone he was obviously close to here with him next year. And hoping I could maybe fill that space until then…

Once again, he gripped my hand tighter before swinging it softly between us. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"I'm in the mood for something Christmas-y," I decided. "Want to go get something to eat and drive around after to look at lights?"

He smiled his approval of the plan, and began to pull me in the opposite direction, raving all the while about the best deep dish pizza he'd found outside of Chicago.

_My heart just grew three sizes larger._

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	7. Winter Wonderland

After what was quite possibly the yummiest dinner of pizza and draft beer ever, we headed back to my truck. Edward initially protested, but when I relented and gave him the keys to drive, he agreed quickly. What I didn't tell him was that I specifically wanted my truck in order to utilize the bench seat.

After he got the hang of the old, tricky clutch, we drove away from campus toward the Laurelhurst area, munching on candy canes we'd pilfered from the tiny tree near the entrance of the pizza parlor. The homes near the park there were nice and family friendly, and we guessed that there would be a lot of lights to look at there.

During the drive over, I stuck to my side of the cab, idly chit-chatting about movies we liked or disliked, and music. Edward's tastes ran a bit more…_eclectic_ than mine, but we seemed to share a common enjoyment of mellow, acoustic music. Our tastes in movies, however, greatly differed.

"How can you not like the Kill Bill movies?" he gasped, voice shocked and disbelieving. "They're great. The stunts are awesome."

"Yeah, but the massive amounts of blood make me sick to my stomach," I countered. "And, really, most of it is just totally unbelievable."

Glancing over at me, he rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Agree to disagree?"

"Deal," I smiled and turned my attention back to the houses. "Oh, look at that one."

My truck slowed to a crawl as we passed a particularly cool house covered in a massive amount of twinkling red, green and white lights. Every available surface was literally smattered in color, and it even spilled out onto the lawn and landscaping.

"My mom always goes all out," I whispered, eyes still trained on the house. "She's quirky, my mom. She took a class a few years back about making homemade ornaments, and last year when I went home her tree was literally covered in them," I reminisced, wistful.

He must have picked up on it, because he made a soft humming noise in his throat, but allowed me to continue.

"She gets bored every few years with her decorations, and changes them up all the time. I have a box in my dorm room closet of the last castoffs," I told him, giggling as I wiped the fog of condensation off of the passenger side window. "Alice and I usually use them to decorate, that's my roommate, but I wasn't really in the mood to do it this year."

"Why not?"

Turning my attention back to him I noticed that the truck was now stopped in front of a house decorated simply with bright white lights. They illuminated the space behind him but cast his face into shadows. His eyes were locked on my face, a small smile playing around his lips.

"She's out of the country," I told him, my momentary joy at seeing him look happy dashed. "My stepfather took her on vacation to Morocco. She's flighty that way."

"My mom goes all out at Christmas," he told me. "Lights, mistletoe, a huge, real tree. The whole deal. She makes this huge dinner, and there are always people all over the house. My dad was a lawyer, and he always had clients over for her annual Christmas party. I used to hide in my room, and he'd always join me for a little while and play a video game with me."

"That sounds nice," I noticed that his eyes had gone guarded again, and I didn't want sad thoughts to interrupt the nice time we'd been having. "My mom would throw a party, but she can't really cook and the guests would end up with food poisoning, no doubt."

He smiled at that, the corner of his mouth quirking up on one side. It was a habit of his I was growing to really adore.

"What about your dad?" he asked, and I noticed the way his throat caught on the last word.

"My dad is across country visiting my step brother at school. His name is Seth, and he's a freshman this year," I smiled as I thought of Seth's perpetually happy disposition. "He has a new girlfriend, and wanted his mom to meet her, so Charlie took her to Minnesota to visit them.

"Charlie is your dad?"

I nodded. "Yes, he's great. He's the chief of police in his town, and he likes to fish, like… a lot."

"You're all alone for Christmas," he murmured, shifting his gaze to the front windshield.

"Nah, not right now," I countered, reaching down to flick my seatbelt off and move closer to him. At the shift of the bench seat he turned his pretty eyes back to me, smiling at my words. I waited, not wanting to be the first one to make the move this time.

I didn't have long to wait.

His head dipped down, lips grazing across my own twice before he reached around my back and pulled me closer. My hands went to his shoulders, gripping beneath his coat and twisting in the collar or his shirt. His lips moved beneath mine, melding us together in a heated lip lock. I could feel his erratic pulse underneath my thumb; it mirrored my own.

Sighing against his lips, I opened my mouth wider, desperate for more.

Mimicking my actions, he swept his tongue out to meet mine as the hand that rested along the middle of my back moved higher to cup my head in his palm. The minty smell of the candy canes hung around us, making this seem somehow sweet and playful.

It was anything but.

The army of butterflies had been replaced by something different, more of a yearning that rolled deep in my body and spread throughout my system. Heart beating fast, I scooted closer, needing to feel more of him pressed against me. The hand in my hair tightened its grip, the tugging sensation nowhere near unpleasant.

Every part of my skin that touched his, hummed with an electric pulse, the parts left untouched wanting to feel the same. Caught up in the moment, I began to lean back, tugging on his shirt to pull him down to me.

A loud knock against the glass startled us, and we jumped in shock and turned guilty gazes to the middle aged man standing outside of my truck. His expression was sour, and his thick bathrobe was a festive reindeer print.

_Thanks a lot, Rudolph._

He shooed us away with a flick of his wrist and we disentangled and slid back to our respective seats. Edward put the truck into drive and got us the hell out of there. We were barely five houses down before a loud, hysterical giggle broke free from my mouth, and I leaned over and continued to crack up.

"Oh my," I gasped. "Did you see…" another loud burst of laughter sounded. "He was wearing—Rudolph," I spluttered, unable to finish a single sentence.

Finally I turned to look at Edward, who despite being caught making out with a girl in front of a strangers house, was laughing, too. _Damn, I was hoping for the blush._

"You couldn't see them," he chuckled, "but his slippers matched the robe."

"Holy shit," I guffawed, bending back over and clutching at my stomach. "Best. Thing. Ever."

"Do you want to look at lights more?" he asked when we finally settled down.

I glanced at my watch, and shook my head. "No, wanna head back? You can come watch a movie in my room."

A smile was the only response I got, and I settled back into my seat and watched the lights flash by. His hand moved over to grab mine, threading our fingers together. I hummed along to the music as we made the trek back to campus in a comfortable silence.

While we drove, I replayed the kiss from just a bit ago, as well as all the ones from last night. I felt so at ease with him, a new, liberating feeling. He was so sweet and thoughtful, and seemed to be a generally happy person even with the laundry list of bad things that had happened to him.

I liked him. Immensely.

Sure, he was shy, and I had the feeling that I had only just started to crack his layers. What I did know about him, though, only made me want to learn more.

In decent time, we reached our dorm, and I gathered my things up and went to open my door. He startled me when I looked up and he was already there.

"Don't want you to fall," he said, and I smiled at the teasing glint in his eyes.

"Lucky you're here, just in case."

Leading the way up to my room and out of the cold, I kept hold of his hand. I liked the way his fingers fit around mine. Warm and strong, they were comforting and nice.

I kicked off my snowy boots once inside my room and reached for the lamp beside my bed. "Welcome to Casa Bella," I gestured around the room, Vanna-style. "Ignore the pink, my roommate is ridiculously happy."

He laughed—a rich, warm sound. I liked that, too.

"So, movies are over there," I pointed. "I'll be right back." I headed into the bathroom to take a peek in the mirror and freshen up a bit. My cheeks were bright and rosy, an excited flush coloring them prettily. My hair was a mess though, and I combed through it to straighten the birds nest that had somehow (thanks, Edward) cropped up around my head. I brushed my teeth as well, not counting on the candy cane to mask the pepperoni smell of my dinner.

Once I had taken care of everything there, I went back into my room to find Edward perched nervously on Alice's desk chair. His fingers were doing their composing thing again, and his foot jiggled against the floor.

"Did you find something to watch?"

"Yeah," he cleared his throat, "Super Troopers sound good?"

"I love that movie."

He left the movie near our television and I popped it in, grabbing the remote before crossing the room toward the fridge. "You want something to drink? I have coke, and…oh. Jack Daniels," I offered. "Sorry, I'm kind of running low on variety."

He strode up beside me, peering down at me with a smile on his face. "Jack and Coke sounds good," he nodded. "Where do you keep your glasses?"

"Alice has them in that cabinet over there," I glanced over at her desk and the small wooden chest that all of our dishes were in. "Grab whatever size you want."

While he got the glasses, I broke the seal on the whiskey and opened the soda, grabbing the small ice bin out of the freezer. He sat the glasses down and I went about mixing the drinks while he wandered around the room looking at the pictures on the wall.

"Is this your parents?" he asked and I glanced up to see him staring at a picture of me on freshman move in day. My mom had come up from Florida to accompany Charlie and I to campus, and Alice had snapped the picture of us in front of the dorm as we'd walked them out.

"Yeah, that's us the day I came to school."

"You look a lot like your mom," he said, still studying the picture.

"A little bit," I conferred, "but I have some of my dad's features also. His eyes are boring brown like mine, my mom's are a really pretty blue."

He mumbled something, but over the clink of the ice cubes I didn't quite hear him. "What's that?" I asked him when I reached his side and held his drink out to him.

_Aww, look. The blush is back._

The cute red was stealing across his ears again, and he stammered a bit as he answered. "N-no, it was nothing. Just said you guys looked happy."

"Huh," I hummed, not really buying that. His blushes were usually brought on by something cute or sweet, and I vowed to get it out of him, eventually. "Yeah, that was a nice day. Ready to watch the movie?"

"Yes," he rushed out; seemingly glad for the topic change.

Crossing the room to my bed, I grabbed the pillows there and tossed them to the foot of the bed before setting my drink on the floor. I flopped down on my belly, making sure I left enough room for him and grabbed the remote. Patting the empty pillows next to me, I motioned him over and turned on the movie.

We drank our drinks and laughed at the stupid jokes in the movie, just enjoying each other's company. A peaceful calm settled over me about halfway through, and I nuzzled my head into the pillow, lightheaded from the alcohol.

Edwards deep breaths next to me mixed with the heat that radiated down my side from every spot our bodies met, lulled me into a blissful state and I closed my eyes.

_While visions of candy cane flavored kisses danced in my head._

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	8. O Christmas Tree

**A different POV for you :)**

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Beside me, Bella's breath evened out, her body relaxing completely into mine. I glanced down, smiling in response to the happy smile that stretched across her beautiful face as she sank into sleep. I wondered what in the hell I had done to catch her attention.

I'd seen her before, of course. She was hard to miss. I'd first noticed her back in September, shortly after getting my new room assignments and the single she had wondered how I'd been so lucky to get. That douche bag that she'd been dating at the beginning of the semester was walking her home in front of me one night, and I'd been struck dumb at the sound of her delicate laughter as he made a fool of himself.

Always a quiet guy, I'd thought him lucky to have such a pretty girl to be around, and had been slightly jealous of the way she'd looked at him, all adoring and happy. I pushed her out of my thoughts—at least I'd tried to—until a few days later, when I saw him kissing another girl on my way to my Wednesday night music composition class.

At first, I'd wondered what had happened between him and the pretty brunette. She seemed pleasant the few times I'd seen her, always smiling or joking with the tiny, waif-like girl she was constantly around. I tended to blend in to the background, comfortable out of the spotlight, a loner.

That Friday, I'd been heading to the music building when I saw them in the common area of my dorm. I'd stayed back, curious. Hadn't I just seen him with another girl only days before? And he was back with the brunette already? It became quickly obvious what was going on, and I had half a mind to punch the dude for fucking with her head once I realized that he was cheating on her.

But, he was bigger than me, and hung out with all of those football playing, fraternity type guys. That was a recipe for disaster.

So, I'd watched. For a month, I'd watched and silently seethed over his treatment of her. I had half a mind to corner her little friend and tell her what I had seen, and was just about ready to when Halloween had happened.

I'd been heading back to my room when a truck load of drunken frat brothers pulled into our lot, laughing and joking that frat-douche was in trouble now. He looked like a drowned rat, hair wet and costume plastered to his frame as he stumbled to the dorm. I'd grabbed a seat on a bench partially hidden behind a low tree and had watched as one by one his things were tossed out the window at him.

It was one of the funniest fucking things I'd ever seen.

Through it all, the pretty brunette I'd watched and obsessed over for two months had the most outraged, pissed off and utterly fucking cute look on her face. Her tiny friend had egged her on, half hanging out the window to toss jeers and hilarious insults down to frat-douche.

After that night, I'd backed off my hidden hovering, content to just catch a glimpse of her here and there. Well, not really, but that's what I told myself. She had seemed sad at first, and I wanted to march over and tell her not to worry about it, that she was far too pretty to mope over someone who would treat her that way, but gradually she'd seemed to revert back to her happy, playful self.

And, just like that my hopes were dashed. As if she would be interested in an introverted, creepy stalker.

No, she was far too cute for that.

I'd been at the music building the night I'd saved her from falling down the steps. I'd just turned the corner when I spotted her ahead of me, and I'd hung back, not wanting to scare her. Until she started to slide on the ice, flailing her arms like a baby bird learning to fly. I'd rushed forward, grabbing her perhaps a bit too roughly, but I didn't want her to hurt herself. At least, that's what I told myself.

Honestly, I just wanted to be near her.

She'd reacted accordingly; I had scared her after all. I'd stepped away once she was righted, turning back to the comfortable turtle mode I'd adopted once my father had died. When she'd began to apologize to me for scaring her, I'd been shocked. We left it at a stalemate; I could tell she still wanted to keep saying she was sorry, and I wouldn't hear it.

I'd headed to my room that night, happy that I'd gotten to talk to her finally and perhaps just a tiny bit in awe of how pretty she was up close, even more so mesmerized by the soft, sweet quality of her voice… and more than a bit turned on by the way her body had felt against mine. Soft and warm in all the right places, and she smelled really good, too.

By pure dumb luck, I'd run into her twice the next day, both times her innate sweetness and awesome personality made me want to learn more.

Then she'd went and done it. She called me, all but invited herself over to watch a movie with me, and then blew my mind my kissing the stupid off of my face. There was no denying it; I was completely sprung by that point in time. This small, sweet, pretty girl had me wrapped around her fingers in no more than four days time.

She got me to open up about things I'd only talked to Emmett about, and then confessed her own troubles. She was trying to ease my mind, I knew it instinctually, and adored her for it all the more. And, surprisingly, I didn't mind talking to her about these things. She seemed to understand my silent broodings, and she hadn't run away screaming yet, which I took as a good sign.

She sighed; breaking me from my thoughts and bringing my focus back to her once again. Her hair spread over the pillows in soft, loose waves, one hand tucked under her neck while the other hung loosely over her head. She was so pretty…

Unhappily, I moved from her side and gathered our empty drink glasses, still feeling warm from the Jack and the girl that was by my side only moments ago. A goofy grin spread across my face, and as I set the empty glasses on top of her mini-fridge, I let the inner dork be free and did a stupid spin in place.

Stumbling slightly from the alcohol, I made my way back to her side. She looked so peaceful, laying there sleeping… I didn't want to wake her up, so I searched the room for another blanket to cover her with. Then I debated leaving.

I didn't want to.

Deciding that it would be all right if I slept on her roommate's bed, I turned off the lights and flopped down on the overly pink everything. And I began to form a plan to make Bella smile as I drifted.

The sound of loud, overly obnoxious Christmas carols woke me up. I blearily looked around, taking a moment to place where I was. The room spun for a few seconds, righting itself as I turned my head to meet warm, brown eyes.

"Good morning," I croaked.

"Hey," she answered, smiling that pretty grin at me. _Sprung, dude. Sprung._

"Did I pass out?" she asked, burrowing deeper into her covers. "I don't remember finishing the movie?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry for not going back to my room," I lied. "I was tired and I just crashed here..."

"It's no problem," she assured, sitting up in bed. The covers fell down around her, and she yawned loudly, stretching her arms up and back.

My eyes were of course drawn to her chest, made more prominent when she moved that way. Her shirt stretched tight across, and my already obvious, painful morning wood panted in response.

_Fuck, she's perfect._

Not wanting to embarrass myself, I focused on a safer topic and asked her if she had to work. As much as I had enjoyed spending the entire day with her, I had things I wanted to do to surprise her. She glanced at her clock and moaned… fucking _moaned._

Christ, couldn't she work with me here? It wasn't nice turning on the nerdy college guy who hadn't gotten laid since last year.

"Yeah, I have to work in an hour," she grumped, a cute little pout pulling her full lips down.

Seriously, I needed to focus on things besides body parts and moans. Wasn't helping the situation one measly little bit.

"It's gonna be so busy today," she continued, voice thick with sleep, "with it being Christmas Eve, and all. I'm glad I only have to work a mid."

"What time do you get off of work?" I asked, trying to calculate my window of time.

"Seven o' clock."

"Can I see you afterward?" If she got off at seven that gave me enough time to get everything I needed to be done and still have time left over to hit my dorm for a few hours and get ready.

"Of course," she grinned. "My room or yours?"

She was killing me here. "Yours has more seating space," I countered. "I'll meet you here at eight?"

"Sound like a plan," she said, rising from her bed and coming to sit on mine. "I'd kiss you, but I'm sure it wouldn't be pleasant right about now."

I'm sure she was right; my mouth tasted like moss. "Well, I'll just have to make up for it later," I smiled, reaching up to pull her down in front of me. I held her loosely in front of me by the shoulders, not wanting to poke her in the back with my stiffy.

She smelled flowery and girly; the strands of her hair tickled my face, reminding me of sweet smiles and pretty brown eyes. I held her for a few minutes until she groaned and said she needed to get ready. By that time, I had calmed down enough to walk without embarrassing myself, so I stood with her to grab my things. After slipping my shoes on, she walked me to the door.

I bent down, pressing a kiss against her forehead; I figured that was a good place to kiss that wouldn't offend her with my foul morning breath, and wished her a good day at work.

My fingers drummed the air in front of them as I walked back to my room, a happy melody taking form in my head.

_Do you hear what I hear?_

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**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**So, this is it. Last chapter.**

**They're not my characters, but I love them like they were. I hope you did too. **

**A million thanks to the girls who helped me with this. _BittenBee_, who stayed up with me, editing chapters as I sent them to her. _Kikikinz_ for going above and beyond to help me with edits, and my prereaders, _Nerac_, _ahealthyadiction_, and _Rae_Cullen_ for thoughts and hand slaps. I love you all.**

**Mostly, thanks to Haley. Her pen name here is MusicalVoice, and she gave me three really amazing prompts that I picked and chose from to create this. She's an author, too; please go check her out.**

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Christmas Eve working in an electronics store was pure hell. Every customer was rushed and crabby. I'd had my fair share of demanding people by the time I clocked out and headed to my truck. My shoulders were stiff with tension, and I desperately craved a cigarette.

Going so far as to search my glove box for a hopefully forgotten pack of smokes, I came up empty handed and cursed aloud. I sat in my truck for a few minutes before putting it into gear, letting it warm up and trying to will some of the stress away.

My mind drifted to thoughts of Edward and I relaxed into my seat as I replayed this morning.

When my alarm had gone off, I'd kicked at it (somehow, I was asleep at the foot of my bed, and my brain hadn't been firing on all cylinders quite yet) until it had shut up. When I rolled over to glance at the time, I saw a rather large lump on Alice's bed and stared at the feet hanging over the bed frame wondering who the hell was in my room.

When Edward turned over, I'd instantly relaxed.

We'd made plans for later, and I'd gotten ready with a happy spring in my step. All day long, whenever the crowds of shoppers had stressed me out, I thought about him to keep myself sane. Now, as I drove back to campus, I sang along to the Christmas station, feeling completely festive and merry.

On some level, I realized how silly I was acting, but I didn't care. For the first time in a long while, I had a guy who treated me nice, and on top of that, my Christmas wouldn't be lonely. As far as I was concerned, it was a win/win situation.

Realization crashed. I wondered if he would spend the day with his uncle and Aunt tomorrow. He said they lived nearby, and I assumed he would want to give his cousin the game he purchased earlier in the week. The thought of not seeing him when I had the whole day off made me frown, but perhaps I could see him later in the evening.

Plan of action in place, as soon as I hit my room I hopped in the shower and began the beautifying routine. Legs were shaved, scented body lotion was applied and hair was blown into soft waves. I even curled the ends a little and used Alice's makeup again.

Feeling more secure now in picking out my own clothes, I flipped through our shared closet, grabbing a knee length, black cotton skirt and a pretty green top. Alice would be proud. I paired them with black ballet flats and checked the time.

Ten minutes.

I rushed around and picked up the mess from the night before, and straightened the beds out. When everything was back in order, I sat on my bed and waited.

The soft knock at the door had me springing up and rushing over to greet Edward. I took a deep breath and smoothed my hair and my clothes before I pulled open the door.

Only to be met with a small, live Christmas tree.

"Huh?"

Edward poked his head around and smiled that heart stopping smile at me. "I thought you might like to use your decorations today," he said as I stood aside to let him in. He paused in the doorway, setting the tree down and leaning in to kiss me hello.

"You bought me a tree?" I asked, still in shock.

"Yeah, it's not very big. I had to sneak it inside and everything, but I thought you'd like it." When I didn't say anything, his face fell. "If you don't like it or don't want it, I can—"

"No, no," I finally spoke up. "I love it, really. I'm just a little surprised, is all." So many emotions flooded my chest at how unequivocally thoughtful and sweet he was. He cared. Realizing that he was still waiting in my doorway, I swallowed back the feelings, recovering myself with a smile. "Come in, let's find a place for it."

Clearing the small table near our television stand, I watched as he sat the little green spruce down and pulled a red metal stand from a bag I hadn't noticed before. While he went about putting the tree up, I grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with water from the bathroom sink. I set it next to the tree and headed to the closet to bring the box of decorations out.

When I had everything opened, I handed him the lights and started putting hooks into the glittery glass ornaments. I carried everything over and set it to the side just as he got the lights going. With a comfortable, warm silence between us, he helped me decorate the tree and when I stood back to take in the finished product, my eyes began to water.

It was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. It reminded me of the Charlie Brown tree, although it was much fuller and not so sparse. I half expected Snoopy any minute to pop out of nowhere and do a dance.

"Thank you," I breathed, reaching up to hug him tightly. "It's perfect."

"Merry Christmas, Bella."

"Merry Christmas," I whispered before rising on my tiptoes to thank him better.

His hands went to my hips, pulling me closer as he deepened the kiss. I melted into his embrace, hands moving up to thread through his soft, messy hair. I began to push him backward as I kissed him, hoping to unwind him. When his knees hit the edge of my bed, I broke the kiss and looked up at him.

"I didn't get you anything," I grinned. "What's your policy on homemade gifts?"

"I think homemade are the best kind," he answered, leaning down to claim my lips again. I pushed my body into his and moved my hands down to reach around his back in a tight hug. His muscles flexed under my touch, bunching as I ran my fingers up his spine.

"Well then, I have the perfect idea."

I took a step back, moving my hands around to his chest before gently pushing him back against the bed. I crawled into his lap, letting my skirt ride up slightly to straddle him and looked deep into his eyes. "It's not much, but..."

Leaning forward to brush his lips against mine, he spoke against my lips. "I disagree. It's more than I could ask for."

I kissed him then, pouring everything into it. His tongue stroked against mine softly, hands moving from the bed to my bare knees. He dipped them under the fabric of my skirt, and I shivered when his warm palms cupped my thighs and his fingers began to drum against the responsive skin.

Playing me.

I gasped, breaking the kiss and leaned back up again. His eyes watched my movements as I reached for the bottom button of my blouse. They continued to trail up as each button fell away to reveal a bit more skin. When I reached the last button, he stopped me from removing my shirt. His eyes held me captive as he inched his face forward to kiss me, sweeping the shirt off in the same motion.

The silk fabric floated down to my elbows and I stretched my hands back to let it fall to the floor below. Warm fingers met my back, causing me to jump a bit before I melted against his chest. A slight tug and a bit of awkward fumbling, and then the clasp of my bra slackened. My heart beat at an incredibly fast pace as I shifted to get rid of the lace around my arms.

He trailed along my sides, the faintest pressure of his fingertips moving up to trace the edges of my breasts. He took his time, exploring with care and my skin seemed to quiver under his touch. One warm, strong hand continued up to my neck and reached into my hair as the other moved inward and cupped me. His warm skin against mine lit the already smoldering embers into a roaring fire, and I ground my hips against him, feeling his reaction thoroughly.

With the softest of touches, his thumb flicked out to tease my nipple, the already aroused flesh pebbling further at the contact. I wanted to feel more of his skin against mine. Seeking hands rose to tug at the tee shirt he wore, and he broke our kiss to reach behind him and pull the shirt over his head. Tossing it behind him carelessly, he brought my face back down to his between both hands with renewed warmth.

When his hands moved down to my hips again, he twisted us around and leaned me back against the mattress. Crawling back over me, he settled at my side. His hands moved down between my breasts in a feather light line to my stomach. Goosebumps rose over my skin, a pleasurable shiver lighting down my spine.

His hands shook slightly when they moved to the zipper at my side, and he looked up from his hands' path, a question in his eyes. His cheekbones were faintly flushed, eyes glittering with a serious expression.

Leaning up, I met his lips in my own silent acquiescence. When my skirt loosened, I arched my back off the bed in order to be free of it. Quirking an eyebrow at his jeans, I watched as he stood up to slide them down his legs. He started to crawl back into the bed but I held up a hand, stopping him.

"Those too," I giggled, indicating his boxer briefs.

I wasn't disappointed when the tips of his ears grew red, and even less so when he divested himself of the last bit of clothing. Long and lean, muscled in all the right places but not overly so, he was perfect. Everywhere. I couldn't stop staring appreciatively at him.

"I think you missed a spot," he teased sweetly, leaning over to run a finger along the elastic of my lacy boy shorts. A wicked grin stretched his face, shyness ebbing as hope surfaced. "Can I open my present?"

Drawing my legs up, I lifted off of the mattress, hand moving to my neck as he pulled the tiny scrap of fabric down my legs, baring me to his eyes.

"Holy… fuck." His eyes raked over me, leaving burning trails in their wake. "My tree pales in comparison."

"Don't knock my tree," I shot back softly. "I think it's wonderful."

His smile was infectious as he moved one knee to the bed, bending down to fumble on the floor. A second later, a shiny silver package landed next to my head, and I understood. _Wonder if he was a boy scout…_

Sliding back to my side, he brought his knees up to mine, nestling between to open me up. His breath seemed unsteady now as he moved over me with reverence. I kissed him, sweet and slow as his fingers traced tantalizing patterns over my hipbones before drawing lower. Every nerve ending felt like kindling to burning flames, his hands the spark that ignited, lighting me up inside.

A low moan broke when he moved his fingers to the spot that called for his touch, breaths speeding when he began to trace a slow circuit up and down. Losing myself to his fingers, I reached for him, wanting to make him feel good, too. At the first tentative touch of my fingers wrapping around him, he broke away with a gasp and looked down to my hand as it began to stroke up and down.

"You feel... Incredible. Everywhere," he panted, as a single finger moved inside of me, curling and working me into a steady frenzy.

"Yes," I moaned, agreeing completely.

His movements slowed to lazy circles as I took him more quickly. Inclining his head with a groan, he ran along my collarbone with warm, open-mouthed kisses peppering down to my chest. Tongue circling my nipple first, he drew it in between his lips and nipped softly before soothing with his lips again. His arm that supported his weight above me began to shake, but he never relented while his tongue and mouth continued to pay attention to my breasts.

Fingers below continued their sweet torture, thumb pressing higher in circles against my clit as a steady heat engulfed my senses. My hands stroked him harder, faster now in time with his attentions to me. The fire built to a steady point, licking hotter and hotter against my skin until a white hot heat surged through my veins. Body stiffening, a low scream ripped from my throat and I closed my eyes against the inferno, welcoming its crescendo.

Breathless and needy, I claimed his lips hungrily, loosening my hold on him to grip his shoulders and pull him over me. He complied easily, snaking a hand out to grab the condom and rip it open. His mouth rained kisses along my neck as he fumbled below.

Finally, he moved to rest between my parted thighs, hand traveling down to grip underneath and lift me to him. "Bella, I want more than this," he whispered, breaking the quiet around us. Despite some of his more confident teases, he looked so innocently genuine. "I want _you._"

"I'm yours, Edward," I promised. I wanted more, too. And I needed him now. "Please."

At my words, he once again kissed me with overwhelming, heated passion as he moved against me. Working himself in slowly until he was seated fully, he groaned low, starting a slow pace. I moaned in response as I adjusted to him, moving my hips with his, steadily giving and taking in turn.

Roaming hands and sweet kisses kept the fire blazing, and with each roll of his hips against me, his skin brushed my clit, the flames soaring into sensitive heat. His head moved to bury against my shoulder, bringing our bodies close together as he quickened his rhythm. Turning his head into my neck, his heavy breaths blew against my sweat soaked skin, alternately warming and cooling me, and driving me crazy always.

"You feel—God, Bella," he groaned. "So good, sweetheart."

"I know, Edward," I breathed. "I love how you feel inside of me."

With a shuddering breath, he tensed above me, throwing his head back as he came hard. I watched, fascinated as his mouth opened into a slacked "O", and the muscles of his neck bunched and released. He collapsed against me, trapping me in a blissful state of comfort and warmth as he worked to catch his breath. My legs moved to wrap around his waist, locking to pull him closer.

He dropped kisses along my shoulder, lips lingering to drag across my flesh. As we both came back down to earth, the fire cooled to a warm, content heat, enveloping me in sated comfort.

"I'll be right back," he said, running his fingers up and down the outside of my legs to loosen them. I watched the muscles play along his back as he walked to the bathroom. Turning my face to nuzzle into the pillows, I breathed in his scent after he shut the door.

As I lay in my blissful state, my mind ran over the past few days. I would never have guessed that being saved from busting my ass would lead to the best Christmas ever, but it had, and that was truly a miraculous thing.

The door creaked open, and I glanced back over to see him emerge from the bathroom, a towel wrapped low around his hips. The best thing was the smile on his face. He looked… just as happy as I felt.

Crawling back into bed, he reached down and ran a warm towel over me, kissing me softly as he cleaned up our mess. He tossed it aside, and pulled my back to meet his chest. Wrapping his arms around me, he rested his cheek against mine.

"I have to go to see my family tomorrow for the holiday," he whispered, snuggling me closer into his chest. "They do a big dinner, and then gifts. Would you like to go with me?"

Blinking against watery eyes, touched that he would invite mo over to meet his family when… whatever this was between us was so new, I paused in my answer. "Are you sure? We can hang out later tomorrow. I don't want you to feel like you're obligated to cart me around just because it's Christmas."

"I want you to go, Bella. I'd have more fun if you were there, and you'll like my family. They're great people, and they wouldn't make you feel unwelcome. Quite the opposite, actually. Please, say you'll go."

There was no point in denying that the offer was tempting. I wouldn't have to entertain myself in my room all day, and I'd get to spend extra time with him. "Okay," I relented. "I'll go."

"Thank you," he murmured, nuzzling his face into my neck and placing a soft kiss there. "And thanks for my present. It's my favorite one, ever."

"Mine too," I agreed, a smile breaking onto my face at the meaning behind his words. We laid there for a while, quiet and content. My eyelashes began to flutter against my cheeks, and I yawned loudly. Turning my head a bit to meet his, I kissed his cheek and mumbled "Good night."

"Merry Christmas, Bella. Good night."

_Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night._

* * *

******It's open-ended. If I get the urge to revisit this someday, I just may. **

**You still here? Likes? Dislikes? Favorite Christmas movie? Come gossip with me in that box below ;) **


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